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WHEN 

SHE WAS ABOUT 

SIXTEEN 



BY 



JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY 



ILLUSTRATED BY 

HOWARD CHANDLER CHRISTY 



THE BOBBS -MERRILL COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 







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ALL 'at I ever want to be 

Is ist to be a man like Pa 

When he wuz young an' married Ma! 

Uncle he telled us yisterdy 

Ist all about it then — 'cause they, 

My Pa an' Ma, wuz bofe away 

To 'tend P'tracted Meetin', where 

My Pa an' Ma is alius there 

When all the big "Revivals" is, 

An' "Love-Feasts," too, an' "Class," an' 

"Prayer," 
An' when's "Comoonian Servicis." 
An', yes, an' Uncle said to not 
To never tell them ner let on 
Like we knowed now ist how they got 
First married. So — while they wuz gone — 
Uncle he telled us ever'thing — 



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'Bout how my Pa wuz ist a pore 

Farm-boy. — He says, I tell you what, 

Your Pa wuz pore! But neighbers they 

All liked him — all but one old man 

An' his old wife that folks all say 

Nobody liked, ner never can! 

Yes, sir! an' Uncle purt'-nigh swore 

About the mean old man an' way 

He treat' my Pa!— 'cause he's a pore 

Farm-hand — but prouder 'an a king — 

An' ist work' on, he did, an' wore 

His old patched clo'es, ist anyway, 

So he saved up his wages — then 

He ist worked on an' saved some more, 

An' ist worked on, ist night an' day — 

Till, sir, he save' up nine er ten 

Er hunnerd dollars! But he keep 

All still about it, Uncle say — 

But he ist thinks — an' thinks a heap! 










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Though what he wuz a-thinkin', Pa 

He never tell' a soul but Ma — 

(Then, course, you know, he wuzn't Pa, 

An', course, you know, she wuzn't Ma — 

They wuz ist sweethearts, course you know) 

'Cause Ma wuz ist a girl, about 

Sixteen; an' when my Pa he go 

A-courtin 1 her, her Pa an' Ma — 

The very first they find it out — 

Wuz maddest folks you ever saw! 

'Cause it wuz her old Ma an' Pa 

'At hate' my Pa, an' toss their head, 

An' ist raise Ned! An' her Pa said 

He'd ruther see his daughter dead! 

An' said she's ist a child! — an' so 

Wuz Pa! — An' ef he wuz man-grown 

An' only man on earth below, 

His daughter shouldn't marry him 

Ef he's a king an' on his throne! 




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Pa's chances then looked mighty slim 

Fer certain, Uncle said. But he — 

He never told a soul but her 

What he wuz keepin' quiet fer. 

Her folks ist lived a mile from where 

He lived at — an' they drove past there 

To git to town. An' ever' one 

An' all the neighbers they liked her 

An' showed it! But her folks — no, sir! — ■ 

Nobody liked her parents none! 

An' so when they shet down, you know, 

On Pa — an' old man tell' him so — 

Pa ist went back to work, an' she 

Ist waited. An', sir! purty soon 

Her folks they thought he's turned his eye 

Some other way — 'cause by-an'-by 

They heard he'd rented the old place 

He worked on. An' one afternoon 

A neighber, that had bust' a trace, 



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He tell' the old man they wuz signs 
Around the old place that the young 
Man wuz a-fixin' up the old 
Log cabin some, an' he had brung 
New furnichur from town; an' told 
How th' old house 'uz whitewashed clean 
An' sweet — wiv morning-glory vines 
An' hollyhawks all 'round the door 
An' winders — an' a bran'-new floor 
In th' old porch — an' wite-new green 
An'-red pump in the old sweep-well! 
An', Uncle said, when he hear tell 
O' all them things, the old man he 
1st grin' an' says, he "reckon' now 
Some gal, er widder anyhow, 
That silly boy he's coaxed at last 
To marry him!" he says, says-ee, 
"An' ef he has, 'so mote it be'!" 




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Then went back to the house to tell 
His wife the news, as he went past 
The smokehouse, an' then went on in 
The kitchen, where his daughter she 
Wuz washin', to tell her, an' grin 
An' try to worry her a spell! 
The mean old thing! But Uncle said 
She ain't cry much — ist pull her old 
Sunbonnet forrerds on her head — 
So's old man he can't see her face 
At all! An' when he s'pose he scold 
An' jaw enough, he ist clear' out 
An' think he's boss of all the place! 

Then Uncle say, the first you know 
They's go' to be a Circus-show 
In town; an' old man think he'll take 
His wife an' go. An' when she say 
To take their daughter, too, she shake 
Her head like she don't want to go; 









An' when he sees she wants to stay, 

The old man takes her, anyway! 

An' so she went! But Uncle he 

Said she looked mighty sweet that day, 

Though she wuz pale as she could be, 

A-speshully a-drivin' by 

Wife where her beau lived at, you know; 

But out the corner of his eye 

The old man watch' her; but she throw 

Her pairsol 'round so she can't see 

The house at all! An' then she hear 

Her Pa an' Ma a-talkin' low 

An' kindo' laughin'-like; but she 

1st set there in the seat behind, 

P'tendin' like she didn't mind. 



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An' when he sees she wants to stay, 
The old man takes her, anyway! 







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An', Uncle say, when they got past 

The young man's place, an' 'pearantly 

He wuzn't home, but off an' gone 

To town, the old man turned at last 

An' talked back to his daughter there, 

All pleasant-like, from then clean on 

Till they got into town, an' where 

The Circus wuz, an' on inside 

O' that, an' through the crowd, on to 

The very top seat in the tent 

Wite next the band — a-bangin' through 

A tune 'at bust his yeers in two! 

An' there the old man scrouged an' tried 

To make his wife set down, an' she 

A-yellin'! But ist what she meant 

He couldn't hear, ner couldn't see 

Till she turned 'round an' pinted. Then 

He turned an' looked — an' looked again! . 





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He turned an' looked— an' looked again! 






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He ist saw neighbers ever'where — 
But, sir, his daughter wuzn't there! 
An', Uncle says, he even saw 
Her beau, you know, he hated so; 
An' he wuz with some other girl. 
An' then he heard the Clown "Haw-haw!" 
An' saw the horses wheel an' whirl 
Around the ring, an' heard the zipp 
O' the Ringmaster's long slim whip — 
But that whole Circus, Uncle said, 
Wuz all inside the old man's head! 



An' Uncle said, he didn't find 
His daughter all that afternoon — 
An' her Ma says she'll lose her mind 
Ef they don't find her purty soon! 






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But, though they looked all day, an' stayed 
There fer the night p'formance — not 
No use at all! — they never laid 
Their eyes on her. An' then they got 
Their team out, an' the old man shook 
His fist at all the town, an' then 
Shook it up at the moon ag'in, 
An' said his time 'ud come, some day! 
An' jerked the lines an' driv away. 

Uncle, he said, he 'spect, that night, 

The old man's madder yet when they 

Drive past the young man's place, an' hear 

A fiddle there, an' see a light 

Inside, an' shadders light an' gay 

A-dancin' 'crosst the winder-blinds. 

An' some young chaps outside yelled, "Say! 

What 'pears to be the hurry — hey?" 

But the old man ist whipped the lines 

An' streaked past like a runaway! 



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.An' some young chaps outside yelled, "Say! 
What 'pe&rs to be the hurry — hey?" 






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An' now you'll be su'prised, I bet! — 
I hardly ain't quit laughin' yet 
When Uncle say, that jamboree 
An' dance an' all — w'y, that's a sign 
That any old man ort to see, 
As plain as 8 and i makes 9, 
That they's a weddiri wite inside 
That very house he's whippin' so 
To git apast! — An', sir! the bride 
There's his own daughter! Yes, an' oh! 
She's my Ma now — an' young man she 
Got married, he's my Pa! Whoop-ee! 
But Uncle say to not laugh all 
The laughin' yet, but please save some 
To kindo' spice up what's to come! 




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Then Uncle say, about next day 

The neighbers they begin to call 

An' wish 'em well, an' say how glad 

An' proud an' tickled ever' way 

Their friends all is — an' how they had 

The lovin' prayers of ever' one 

That had homes of their own! But none 

Said nothin' 'bout the home that she 

Had run away from! So she sighed 

Sometimes — an' wunst she purt'-nigh cried. 

Well, Uncle say, her old Pa, he 

1st like to died, he wuz so mad! 

An' her Ma, too! But by-an'-by 

They cool down some. 

An', 'bout a week, 

She want to see her Ma so bad, 

She think she'll haf to go! An' so 

She coax him; an' he kiss her cheek 

An' say, Lord bless her, course they'll go! 



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An', Uncle say, when they're bofe come 
A-knockin' there at her old home — 
W'y, first he know, the door it flew 
Open, all quick, an' she's jerked in, 
An', quicker still, the door's banged to 
An' locked: an' crosst the winder-sill 
The old man pokes a shotgun through 
An' says to git! "You stold my child," 
He says: "An', now she's back, w'y, you 
Clear out, this minute, er I'll kill 
You! Yes, an' I 'ull kill her, too, 
Ef you don't go!" An' then, all wild, 
His young wife begs him please to gol 
An' so he turn' an' walk' — all slow 
An' pale as death, but awful still 
An' ca'm — back to the gate, an' on 
Into the road, where he had gone 
So many times alone, you know! 








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An', Uncle say, a whipperwill 
Holler so lonesome, as he go 
On back to'rds home, he say he 'spec' 
He ist 'ud like to wring its neck! 
An' I ain't think he's goin' back 
All by hisse'f — but Uncle say 
That's what he does, an' it's a fac'! 



An' 'pears-like he's gone back to stay — 
'Cause there he stick', ist thataway, 
An' don't go nowheres any more, 
Ner don't nobody ever see 
Him set his foot outside the door — 
Till 'bout five days, a boy loped down 
The road, a-comin' past from town, 



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An' he called to him from the gate, 
An' sent the old man word: He's thought 
Things over now; an', while he hate 
To lose his wife, he think she ought 
To mind her Pa an' Ma an' do 
Whatever they advise her to. 
An' sends word, too, to come an' git 
Her new things an' the furnichur 
That he had special' bought fer her — 
'Cause, now that they wuz goin' to quit, 
She's free to ist have all of it; — • 
So, fer his love fer her, he say 
To come an' git it, wite away. 



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Shet on her, an' she hears the click 
Of a' old rusty padlock ! 




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An' there she stayed! An' she can cry 

1st all she want! an' yell an' kick 

To ist her heart's content! an' try 

To pry out wiv a quiltin'-stick! 

But Uncle say he guess at last 

She 'bout give up, an' holler' through 

The door-crack fer to please to be 

So kind an' good as send an' tell 

The old man, like she want him to, 

To come, 'fore night, an' set her free, 

Er — they wuz rats down there! An' yell 

She did, till, Uncle say, it soured 

The morning's milk in the back yard I 

But all the answer reached her, where 

She's skeerd so in the dark down there, 

Wuz ist a mutterin' that she heard, — 

"I've sent him word! — I've sent him word!' 

An' shore enough, as Uncle say, 

He has "sent word!" 



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Well, it's plum night 
An' all the house is shet up tight — 
Only one winder 'bout half-way 
Raised up, you know; an' ain't no light 
Inside the whole house, Uncle say. 
Then, first you know, there where the team 
Stands hitched yet, there the old man stands — 
A' old tin lantern in his hands 
An' monkey-wrench; an' he don't seem 
To make things out, a-standin' there. 
He comes on to the gate an' feels 
An' fumbles fer the latch — then hears 
A voice that chills him to the heels — 
"You halt! an' stand right where you air!" 
Then, sir! my — my — his son-in-law, 
There at the winder wiv his gun, 
He tell the old man what he's done: 







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"You hold my wife a prisoner — 
An' your wife, drat ye! I've got her! 
An' now, sir," Uncle say he say, 
"You ist turn round an' climb wite in 
That wagon, an' drive home ag'in 
An' bring my wife back wite away, 
An' we'll trade then — an' not before 
Will I unlock my cellar-door — 
Not fer your wife's sake ner your own, 
But my wife's sake — an' hers alone!" 
An', Uncle say, it don't sound like 
It's so, but yet it is! — He say, 
From wite then, somepin' seem' to strike 
The old man's funny-bone some way; 
An', minute more, that team o' his 
Went tearin' down the road k'whiz! 








An' in the same two-forty style 

Come whizzin' back! An' oh, that-air 

Sweet girl a-cryin' all the while, 

Thinkin' about her Ma there, shet 

In her own daughter's cellar, where — 

1st week or so she's kep' house there — 

She hadn't time to clean it yet! 

So when her Pa an' her they git 

There — an' the young man grab' an' kiss 

An' hug her, till she make him quit 

An' ask him where her mother is. 

An' then he smile' an' try to not; 

Then slow-like find th' old padlock key, 

An' blow a' oat-hull out of it, 

An' then stoop down there where he's got 

Her Ma locked up so keerfully — 

An' where, wite there, he say he thought 

It ort to been the old man — though 

Uncle, he say, he reckon not — 



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When out she bounced, all tickled so 

To taste fresh air ag'in an' find 

Her folks wunst more, an' grab' her child 

An' cry an' laugh, an' even go 

An' hug the old man; an' he wind 

Her in his arms, an' laugh, an' pat 

Her back, an' say he's riconciled, 

In such a happy scene as that, 

To swop his daughter for her Ma, 

An' have so smart a son-in-law 

As they had! "Yes, an' he's my Pa!" 

I laugh' an' yell', "Hooray-hooraw!" 






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HECKMAN 
BINDERY INC. |8| 



@ik DEC 88 




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W@y N. MANCHESTER, 
^^^ INDIANA 46962 ! 




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